Hospital

My dad wasn’t there when I was born. Not because he didn’t care or because he had something else to do. He wasn’t there because he was also in the hospital. Two nights before I was born, my parents went to the hospital. Since my dad didn’t have anything to do while my mom was there, he went out for dinner with his friends. They went to 3 different restaurants that night and probably got a full meal at each restaurant. So he and his friends head back to the hotel, stuffed from all of the food they ate and went to bed. Later that night his stomach started hurting. It turned out that he had appendicitis and needed to get his appendix removed. And it just so happened that I was born on the same day that my dad was getting his appendix removed.

My Name

I was named after my grandfather. Everyone always called him Grandpa Charlie. I say “Everyone” because I have never met him. He passed away about 10 years before I was born. My parents always tell us stories about him. He was funny, kind, and loved everyone. I remember my mom telling us how he would always throw grapefruit in the shower through the bathroom window outside. It’s funny stuff like that that makes me wish I knew him.

The House I Knew For all Those Years

I lived in the same house pretty much my whole life. We did everything in that house and we lived there for so long, but we didn’t always live there. Before we moved, we lived in an apartment complex until I was about 5. I don’t really remember that much from that house because I was so little when we lived there. But there are a few stories I remember from that house. There was one time when my little sister was wandering around the neighborhood wearing her brand new bright orange shoes and she walked into our neighbor’s house. However, they weren’t home because they were re-doing their house and there was paint everywhere. So my sister, who was four years old at the time, walked into their house and went into their bathroom. Then for some strange reason, she walked straight into the tub, which got her shoes all covered in paint.

Easter

One year during Easter when I was about 9 years old we went up to my Grandma’s house to celebrate with our family and my grandma’s sibling’s families. Everyone was hanging out in the backyard, playing games and eating food. We were all just having fun together. After hanging out, all of the parents went into the living room to talk, and the other kids and I, being 10 and younger, did not want to sit in there and listen to them talking. So we went outside and played. Since my grandma’s house is on a hill we all were trying to race the cars that were going up and down the street. Eventually it was my turn to try. I started running down the hill after this car and I wasn’t looking at my feet because I wanted to see how close I was to the car. Suddenly, my feet flew out behind me because there was a curb I didn’t notice before. I tripped and slid down the hill face first which caused my nose to bleed and get scratched up. Ever since then I have always looked where I am walking on a sidewalk.

Donuts

We went to the Grand Canyon once. I loved seeing all of the mountains and redrock when we were there. We went with our family on a trip over spring break. Most of the time we just stayed at the house and played games together, but there were a few days that we went out on hikes. Camelback trail was the name of the hike that we did. Everyone was hiking for about one hour until we took a break for lunch. We were about halfway up the trail and some family members already wanted to go back. 

“Come on guys, this trail is only a 1500 foot elevation climb,” said my Dad.

Most of us wanted to keep on going but some people were already heading back.

“I’ll get donuts for anyone that can get to the top.” said my Uncle.

“I want a Donut!” said my little brother Tommy, and he started racing up the mountain.

Soon after, everyone followed because all the little kids were running up the mountain and the parents had to stay with them. The rest of the trail was difficult but everyone got through it. Pretty soon, we were all back down at the bottom of the trail, and as promised, there were a few boxes of donuts sitting on the counter when we got back to the house.